


Cover My Tracks

by MySoulIsMelting



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: 7 y/o max, ;), Blood and Gore, David Adopts Max (Camp Camp), Drug Use, Drugs, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Mild Blood, Mild Gore, Mild Language, Minor Character Death, Minor Injuries, Murder, Please Kill Me, Please Leave Comments, babey - Freeform, dadvid, drugvid, eyes emoji, finally got to writing this, max is babey whether he likes it or not, uwu, yesyesyesyes, 🤣
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:07:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21578068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MySoulIsMelting/pseuds/MySoulIsMelting
Summary: David, but hes actually the leader of a large drug cartel and hes babey. thank you and goodnight*re-write* :))))))))){all of my works are on hiatus indefinitely. they are not being discontinued, just need more time.}
Relationships: David & Gwen & Max (Camp Camp), David & Gwen (Camp Camp), David & Jasper (Camp Camp), David & Max (Camp Camp), David/Jasper (Camp Camp)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 83





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Finally, I got to rewriting this.... though I've changed quite a few things, like how it starts three years before the first season of camp camp, and also how David is now Max's adoptive father because Dadvid is god.  
> anywhoodle, enjoy!
> 
> also, hehe, the inspiration for David outfit is ↓this↓. yes, it Velma, yes I love her, but not as much as I love Daphnie. okay, I'm done :)  
> https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/743/101/400.gif

“Fuck!” he tripped “FUCK!” he shouted as a heel was dug into the middle of his back. The gravel dug into any exposed skin, tearing at the black shirt he was wearing. His hands were bleeding from trying to push himself off the ground. The heel presses harder into his back, shoving him into the ground. “Please! I’m good for the money! I swear! I can get it to you tomorrow! Oh GOd! PLeASE!” his voice cracked, his eyes welling with tears he knew full well he couldn’t get the money to them, but it would give him the chance to say goodbye to his daughter and wife at home. His back popped violently as their foot was pushed harder into his spine. A cry escaping from the back of his throat. “Please! Give me just one more day! I can get you the money! I swear!” He cried, choking on a sob. The foot was lifted from his back, and he started to push himself up. “Thank you! oh god thank-” his gratitude was suddenly cut off by a snap, the foot having slammed back onto his back, and severing his spine into two. The lights in his eyes dimmed and he fell limp on the gravel, blood pooling from his mouth and nose. Unbeknownst to them, a short turquoise eyed boy watched from behind a tree; eyes widening at the gruesome scene laid before him. He held his hand over his mouth to muffle a gasp, stumbling over his feet in order to get away before he was spotted. He stumbled, tripping over a stray branch, it’s snap echoed through the forest.

The night air was brisk as David made his way through the thicket, limp body pulled over his shoulder. He tugged his overcoat a bit tighter as he waltzed his way through the trees, weaving to avoid branches. David pulled the collar of his coat up to his ears and tucked his hat to hide his eyes from anyone watching nearby. He knew better than to repeat the mistake from a few years back when one of the camper's parents found out who he was and subsequently tried to blackmail him. Let's just say that he was much more stone-hearted back then, not that he isn’t now, and that kid wouldn’t be hearing from his parents anytime soon. David grimaced at the old memory. ‘I could never hurt one of my campers like that now. I’ve changed, haven’t I?’ the man shook his head to rid himself of the thought. He reminisced about when Gwen first joined as a counselor, and how she thought him as suspicious, but after working with each other for a while she brushed it off as ignorant optimism. David was ripped out of the memory when a deafening snap rang through the near-silent forest. He spun around in search of the source of the sound, the body slung over his shoulder momentarily forgotten as it’s head thunked against his back, temporarily knocking him off balance as his emerald eyes searched the surrounding forest. He regained his footing as he looked for the source of the sudden sound. ‘What if someone was following him?” the idea sliced through his empty thoughts and he stood still, shocked. How could he not have noticed someone following him this whole time?

Max whimpered, clasping his hand over his dry mouth as he desperately tried to sneak away quietly. His eyes welled with tears as he scoured for a hiding place. He tripped over a twig, the snap was deafening and Max burst into tears as he fumbled to stand. He scraped his hands against the rough forest floor. He sprinted through the brush, the branches ripping his nightshirt as he shielded his face with his arms. He briefly glanced back his eyes locking with familiar forest green ones. He tripped again. He didn’t even have the chance to stand when a calloused, bloodsoaked hand lifted him from the collar of his pajamas. He let out a strangled cry and covered his face with his bleeding hands.

“P-please- I-I didn’t see anything,” He choked on a sob, hot tears running down his flushed face. “Please-” He hiccuped “Don’t hurt me- please I won’t tell anyone- Please”

He wiped his tear-soaked face with the torn sleeves of his shirt as he was moved to face the perpetrator. The majority of their face was covered by what looked like a bandanna, it was tucked into his trenchcoat. A matching hat was placed on his head, but it barely covered his flame-red hair and piercing green eyes.

“What’s your name,” he said sternly, the voice emitting from behind the white mask was unnaturally deep, like it didn’t fit their figure.

“M-Max, my name is Max.” he stuttered.

They tugged the white bandanna off their face to reveal not only the rest of their face but also a voice distorter. “Hello Max,” He held out a hand. “My name’s David.”

His voice was distinctly different, and his expression softened. Though it sounded like he held no malicious intent toward Max, he still couldn’t erase the image of this man- David- having killed someone in cold blood right in front of him, even if he didn’t know he wasn’t there. He took his hand and shook it with trepidation, still suspended off the ground by the collar of his shirt.

“Hi David,” he said eyes locked with the man before him. He was shivering with fear.

“So what’s a kid like you doing out in the forest in the middle of winter? I imagine you’re cold.” he whipped off his coat and wrapped Max in it underneath he wore an intricate suit. With suspicion, he pulled it tighter around him.

“I get that you aren’t gonna let me go just like that- but is there a space we can talk without me getting frostbite. Also maybe can you not hold me from my collar- I feel like a dog.”

He nodded and adjusted him to sit on his bicep, still holding him so he wouldn’t fall.

“So what’d that guy ever do? Like I get it had something to do with him owing you money but like, why did that warrant you killing him.”

David slung the man’s body over his other shoulder and shrugged. “He was a liar and was bringing bad company to my work. None of my underlings wanted to take action so naturally, as their boss I set things straight and made an example of him. He had plenty of time to convince me otherwise.”

“Odd question… but what are you going to do with…” He gestured toward the body. “Y’know…”

“The usual. Toss him in the well near my cabin and pour like... two whole bottles of draino on him.” he shrugged nonchalantly.

Max let out a quiet ‘oof’ in response.

In the distance, a cabin came into view. “We’re almost there kiddo.” Max wrinkled his nose at the nickname but didn’t comment. David fumbled with his keys to unlock the cabin, dropping the body midway, staining the snow red. “I’ve never seen red snow before…” Max said with an eyebrow quirked. David chuckled and finally pushed the cabin door open. He flipped on the lights and set Max on a nearby couch. David pulled a box of matches from a kitchen cabinet and walked in front of the fireplace. He kneeled as he began to light a fire.

Max watched him with caution. He may not have hurt him but he was still a murderer… but- no. he looked around the small room for something, anything, that could help him escape. That’s when he saw it. A fire poker sat just in David’s blindspot. Maybe, if he could somehow get a hold of it, he could knock him out and run. He stood, letting the large trench coat fall to the ground, and began to tiptoe toward the fireplace. He grabbed the fire poker and held his breath and he held it up in preparation to swing. As soon as he began to swing the weapon when, without even looking up from the newly started fire, David reached and grabbed the fire poker. He plucked it out of his tiny hands and studied it with a mocking manner. “I don’t know if I should pretend to be surprised.” he shrugged and turned back to the fire, now poking it with the fire poker.

“What? Are you just gonna- pretend I didn’t just try to hit you over the head with a fire poker? Like… are you not gonna kill me where I stand.”

“Nah. first off I don’t kill kids. And second off I still haven’t heard why you were in the forest, shoeless none the less, in the middle of winter yet. So go ahead and get cozy because you’re not leaving till you give me a good reason for you to be wandering around without any parental guardians or whatever. Would you like some hot chocolate?”

“Uhh… yeah sure…” he backed up and sat back down on the sofa, pulling the coat up onto his lap. David walked back into the kitchen to start a pot of hot cocoa. “So why’re you out here instead of, y’know, curled up in bed like most people are at this hour?”

Max pulled his knees up to his chest as his eyes began to water. He sniffled and rubbed his eyes with his fist. “I… I uh- I ran away.”

David leaned out of the kitchen and looked at him with a worried expression. “If you don’t mind me asking, why?”

Max shook his head and chuckled bitterly. “Cause my parents don’t care. They never cared about me. All they care about is getting their fix of whatever they decided to shove up their nose that week, even if it means selling everything they own, or not buy food for a week. And when they don’t get it… they blame me.” Max began to bawl. “And what I mean by blame me is beat the shit out of me. Like, What the fuck! I’m seven years old and they blame me for them not being able to afford drugs!” he threw his hands up in the air with frustration.

David walked in with a mug of hot chocolate and held it out to him. Max hesitated to take it. “It’s not poisoned. I swear on my mommas grave.” he gave a two-fingered salute. Max took the drink and held it close to his face, breathing in the sweet scent of chocolate. “I’ll be right back. I’m gonna grab a first aid kit from the bathroom so I can clean up those cuts.” Max nodded and David left to retrieve the first aid kit from the next room.

Max took a chaste sip of the cocoa. Balancing the mug on his knees, still holding it with one of his hands, and leaned so he could try and see down the hallway. One door was ajar with light shining through it, illuminating the rest of the hallway. He could hear David rummaging through something for what he could only assume was the first aid kit. For a murderer, he was a pretty honest guy, even if Max didn’t want to admit it.

When David emerged from the hallway with a large emergency med-kit in one hand and two large bottles of draino in the other. “I’m gonna wait for you to finish your hot chocolate, in the meantime, I’ve gotta dispose of the evidence of any dirty dealings.” He winked, dropping the large med-kit by the sofa and left to dispose of the body he had left outside.

Max sat patiently for David to return, silently sipping his quickly cooling drink. Max didn’t keep track of the time but when he finally returned from disposing of the body, his neat navy suit was tragically soaked in blood. “What a pity. I really liked this suit.” he stripped off the blazer and tossed it over onto one of the nearby bar-stools. His once neat dress shirt now looked like the snow outside, or maybe some sick version of Santa Claus, with the deep reds intermixing with the crisp white of his shirt. All in all, it was not a look. He walked over and sat on the floor in front of Max, opening the first aid kit and pulling out a cloth soaked in hydrogen-peroxide and held his hand out. “Here let me clean up those cuts.” Max held out his small hand for him to clean, jerking away with a yelp. “Shit! That burned! Why did that burn?” He looked at David with tear-filled eyes.

“Sorry buddy, but I’ve got to clean up all the germs, or your cuts can get infected and it’ll hurt a lot worse if you don’t let me clean it.” Max nodded and held his hand back out to him. When he finished cleaning his wounds, he wrapped his palms with bandages and gauze. “Did you scrape your knees too?” Max shook his head. “I have a spare room if you’re tired.” he nodded, his eyes drooping. David picked him up and took him to the spare room and left him on the bed, tucked tightly under the blanket.

That was three years ago. David, cashing in on some favors, pulled some strings in order to gain custody of Max. even if that may have included murdering his parents through a fake overdose on fentanyl. During the summer David still worked a job at a summer camp, his wrongdoings overshadowed by Campbells own. In all honesty, it was the perfect cover-up, no one would suspect the clueless camp counselor to be the leader of a drug cartel, or a gang, or- well- a murderer.

Gwen was still lazy as ever, but with max now attending he kept her on her toes. It was pretty entertaining. But what’s even better, was that they were welcoming, not one, not three, but two new campers today. And hell if David would let anything slip.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> finally wrote the next chapter babes. its longer than most chapters I write since I try to stick to 1,000 words per chapter, though I think I wanna challenge myself and change it to 2,000 for this one. anywhoodle, its over 3,000 words and has a lot of dialogue. I figured I should stick to the first episode pretty closely and then branch off, occasionally sprinkling in my favorite episodes. while dialogue heavy it does have some pretty good parts in my opinion. enjoy.

“Can you believe it max! We getting, not one, not three, but two new campers today!” David said, bouncing slightly in place. “Yup, it's really truly horrifying,” Max responded. After he started staying with David he’d attended camp every year, only because it was a good cover-up for David's business, considering that felon Campbell was never there. “Horrifying? What? Are you afraid of making a few new friends?” David ruffled Max’s curls, quickly stopping when he saw Max scowling. “Haha, that look could kill someone if you're not careful!” Max rolled his eyes. “Like you would care. And I'm not here to make friends David. I'm here because camp is where kids are sent when parents don't want to deal with them. Why do you think we return the favor when they hit seventy.” David frowned and Max just shrugged, I mean he wasn’t wrong if he was talking about his biological parents, who when they found Max missing they didn’t bother to alert any authorities. Which made Davids job like, ten times easier, since then all he had to do was fake an overdose and forge all the legal papers. “Hang on a sec… what are you even doing out here?” David asked. “Well its definitely not because the bus comes in from the city to drop off and pick up campers and so far seems to be my only reasonable method of escaping this fucking nightmare of a camp. Definitely not that.” David paused. “Hey… Language.” He chided. “Suck a dic-” David cut him off. “ and quartermaster doesn’t even take the bus back into the city he takes into sleepy peak, which we both know is much more boring than camp.” Max shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I don't want to raise some hell.” David shook his head in disbelief. “What? I take after you.” David laughed

The honking of the bus horn breaks their conversation. David waves toward them and then realized Quartermaster had no intention of stopping where they were at and moved Max out of the way before the bus subsequently hit him square in the chest. “Kids are here,” Quartermaster says to nobody in particular as he opens the bus doors and releases the two new campers. They take in their surroundings, Nikki, the green-haired girl seems ecstatic of her new location, while Neil, the lanky boy in a yellow turtleneck seems irked. Winded, David goes to greet them both. “Well hello there little lady, you must be Nikki, my name is David your camp-” He screams as Nikki bites his hand. “Excuse me? Is this science camp?” Neil asks. Nikki releases David and he holds his now bruised hand away from her. “No silly! This is adventure camp! Ad-ven-ture? My mom said so unless she was lying, again.” She turns to David, whos still holding his hand at a cautionary length away from her. “Sorry about that hand, by the way, just exerting dominance, you know how it goes.” she turns back to Neil while David shifts uncomfortably. “And you must be Neil.”He doesn’t bother holding his hand out for a handshake this time, having learned his lesson. “Well you two will be happy to know that camp Campbell is both-” he's cut off once again by being hit by the bus. Max grumbles as Quartermaster grabs him by his hood with his hook hand and drops him back over by David, who is standing up again, grumbling quietly about how he was going to have a few bruised ribs later. “Thank you, Quartermaster.” He points at David with his hook. “You're on your own. Going on break, be back for the bus at noon.” he whips a bottle of what David hoped was just alcohol stored in a rat poison bottle, and not actually rat poison. Even so, he gives him a concerned look. He turns his attention back to Max, who was glaring at David. “Max, you are not leaving my side for the rest of the day.” Max doesn’t break eye contact with David. “We’ll see about that camp man.”

“So what's your deal?” Neil tactlessly asked. As if Max would give him any real answers after meeting him not even 15 minutes ago. “I'm just a kid trying to survive out here Neil.” he pats him on the shoulder. “Now let's go check out the camp kids!” he twirled around and began to lead them to the mess hall. “The first stop on any good tour is the flag pole!” David said, mock saluting the flag. “I can’t help but give it the official camp Campbell salute every time I see it. Beside the flagpole is our mess hall which-” he glances up and salutes. “Whoops, sorry saw the flag again.” he joked, Max rolled his eyes while the others looked disinterested. “Besides the flagpole is our mess hall which is connected to the Quartermasters store, it's here that we’ll serve meals, hold announcements, and occasionally take part in camp activities. Tell them just how much you love it, Max!” David gestures towards Max. “see, that's the sad thing, he still actually thinks that I love it.” He remarks sarcastically. “And who wouldn’t! Now, let's step inside and meet my co-counselor Gwen! Whos in the middle of a camp activity right now! Oh man, you're gonna love her!” He opens the door, preparing to cringe at whatever fresh hell would be taking place inside. “Gooooood morning Gwen!” he said, bracing himself.

“Mother fucker!” Gwen shouted over space kid’s screaming. “Crank it to high! I can take the g’s!” He shouts over to Nurf who was operating the ceiling fan he was duct-taped to. “Nurf, you don't crank shit! Get down from their space kid!” she continued to throw silverware at the fish-bowl wearing boy. “Oh, dear.” David spared and quickly went to help Gwen with the kids. Neil was still getting increasingly worried. “What is going on here?” he asked Max looking around at the chaos. Max grabbed his arm, “I’m telling you if we leave now I can hotwire that bus.” Nikki grabbed Max who dragged him and Neil into the fray. “This is amazing!!!'' On the other hand, David pushed Nurf away from the Fan switch and turned it off, Spacekid fell off and onto the ground screaming. “I'm okay!” space kid grunted from off the floor. “What the gosh-darn-heck happened?” Max rolled his eyes at him from across the hall. “Ugh, space kid's just, you know, pushing me to my limits again.” she rolled her eyes when space kid yelled “I will achieve space flight” from his place on the floor. “Well we have new campers to introduce and orientate!” he pinned buttons onto Neil and Nikki's shirts. Neil grunted in pain. “Jesus that's right,” Gwen said holding her temples. “Okay, let's show them the video.” she resolved. “Actually, I was thinking I could play them that song-” he began to pull his guitar out of nowhere, and Gwen put his hand on his chest. “I’m gonna stop you right there. No. I’ll get the laserdisc.” David nodded and slipped his guitar back behind him and into oblivion. “Okay! All you campers head over to the activities field for your afternoon sessions.” Everyone groaned and began to leave. David grabbed Max before he could leave and put him back where he could see him. “Ah-ah, not you Max.” Max cursed and joined the two new campers again.

“Will someone please talk to me about science camp? None of those kids looked to sciency…” Neil questioned, his brow furrowed. “What about that astronaut kid?” Nikki rebated. Neil’s expression morphed to a more conceited look. “Astronauts? The wannabe jocks of the scientific community? Please.” Neil scoffed. Gwen returned with the disk, blowing the dust into his face and handing it over to him, his features briefly flashed with anger, quick enough that only Max seemed to catch it. Gwen also wheeled in an old-looking box television with two antennae affixed to the top of it. “Don’t worry kiddos! This video will explain everything! It was put together by our founder Cameron Campbell, back when I was an eager young camper just like yourselves! He was an absolute legend-” the attic stairs behind him opened up and David adopted a sour look on his face. “sorry  _ is  _ an absolute legend.” David began to list faux praises as Campbell climbed out of the attic in what looked like his pajamas. The campers and Gwen watched him as David seemingly sang his praise oblivious to their unwanted visitor. Campbell looked at Gwen, eyes widening, and quickly climbed back into the attic to get dressed. David was getting annoyed by how long it was taking for him to introduce himself, but he continued to spout lies about Campbell's so-called legacy. Even joking about him saving lives, and to be honest, the only livelihood he was saving was Davids since all the federal agents were so focused on Campbell that they never noticed the other shady business surrounding Camp Campbell. When Cameron finally finished, David mockingly wished “oh, if only he was here now.” as Campbell approached. “I’m here now,” Campbell said, putting a hand on David's shoulder. David smashed the laserdisc against the floor in feigned surprise as he turned to face his “self-proclaimed hero” a fake smile quickly covering his face as he gasped. “Mr. Campbell? What are you doing here sir?” David knew he obviously was hiding out from agents, he wasn’t as stupid as he pretended to be. “Well, I’m certainly not hiding from any authorities if that's what you're thinking.” Bingo, he was right, but also what kind of idiot would say that out loud? “What?” David said, covering his impatience. Campbell smacked him on the back, hitting him right where he was bruising. David winced but didn’t break character. Besides, the only person he broke character around was Max, since he already knew everything. “Come on Davy!” David internally scowled at the nickname. “You think I’d miss the opportunity to welcome our new Campbell campers to Cameron Campbell's camp Campbell?” Gwen looked at him distastefully. “You have for years, sir.” He wrapped his arm around her in a chokehold. David could swear that was against some sort of OSHA guideline. “Oh, Grace you slay me!” She managed to choke up an “its Gwen'' before Campbell gave her a look and asked, “what did I say?”

“Hey, brawny guy? This is adventure camp right?” Nikki asked. “Yeah, so far every attempt to answer our questions just raises more questions,” Neil observed. Max rolled his eyes at the scene. “Hey good for you, your starting to catch on!” Max replied sarcastically. Cameron laughed and released Gwen, she rubbed her neck. “Don’t worry Kids! These two will take you on a tour of our great camp and answer any questions you might have.” A car pulls up outside the camp, and two agents step out, Campbell shuts the curtains. “In Fact, we should go on that tour right now, all of us, together, away from this spot.” He pushed Max and the others out of the mess hall, Max glared at him. David and Gwen introduce Neil and Nikki to each of the camps. “By the way Mr.Campbell, now that you're here maybe we can discuss just exactly how we’re meant to operate on this scale.” Cameron ignores her and points toward the forest. “Hey is that kid trying to escape?” he changes the topic. Max is running away, a knitted doll left in his place. David pursues him. “Looks like knitting camp isn’t as stupid as someone said, huh Max?” David holds up the eerily life-size doll of Max. “you are the bane of my existence.” Max said as David picked him up and hauled him back to camp. When they returned Neil had found science camp and was decidedly about to rip Mr.campbell a new one for calling such a large lab safety hazard a “camp”. One of the table's legs falls off. Neil searches his pocket for the camp brochure insisting that he didn’t sign up for this. Cameron points out the fine print. David rolls his eyes again. “This is bullshit!” Neil began, spouting about how throwing together some random stuff didn’t count as a laboratory. Another leg fell off the table. Gwen began to speak when Campbell cut her off again and began to spout more capitalist bullshit.

Then the feds drove into Dolph's painting, jumping out of their car and began shooting at Campbell. He held space kid up like a shield and whispered into his watch, tossing the kid aside when a helicopter dropped a ladder. David was pissed, but he wasn’t about to break character in front of a bunch of kids and federal agents no less, so he continued to stand there while gunshots rang out and echoed through the camp. Gwen curled up on the ground, having what seemed to be an anxiety attack, and the Quartermaster began to make his way back to the bus. “Neil that bus is our only chance out of here do you want to spend the rest of your summer at this godforsaken place? Or do you wanna enjoy the sweet taste of freedom?!” Max asked, pulling Neil down to his level and shaking him violently. Neil glanced around. “Let's get the fuck out of here.” he resolved, looking back down at Max. “Making a break for it? I can make a distraction for you.” Nikki asked with a smirk. “Why would you help us?” Max asked, being thoroughly educated on the subject of double agents per his dad's work. “ I’m an agent of chaos. Hey David!” David drops Gwen, totally not on purpose, not at all. “Yes Nikki?” he asked, turning his attention toward her. “How bout you pick up our spirits with that camp song you won't shut up about?” David figured that what's the worst that could happen? None of the kids could drive a bus even if they could get their tiny little hand on it. “Well that's a great idea!” he pulled out his guitar and began to sing. The three of them made a break for it, leaving behind the same kind of knitted doll that max had used beforehand. How he knitted them so fast Gwen didn’t know. Unless all of this had been pre-planned, but there's no way Max had gotten his little gremlin hands on the camper files before they arrived. “The kids are gone.” Gwen stops Davids's song. 

The three kids run past the quartermaster, who only bothers to murmur “no runnin’.” as they sped by. David and Gwen followed close behind them, Gwen yelling at David as he pelted “I’m Sorry’s” back at her. “Max get back here you are being a bad influence on our new campers!” He could almost reach Max’s hood when Nikki tugged her pin off her overalls and threw it, hitting David in the face, Gwen tripping over him. They made it to the bus and sped off. A few meters down the road they crashed the bus into the feds from earlier car. The cop that had been called, Sal, scolded David. Gwen looked pissed. The cop and the agents drove off. “Well kids, I hope we all learned something today.” David began before Max cut him off. “Oh no, I hope you learned  _ David _ . I hope you learned that before today you only had one little bastard to deal with, but now you’ve got three.” he pulled the two of them together in a sort of open-ended hug, David smiled. “Let's go, guys, I’ll take you to our tent.” Gwen looked exhausted at David. “Well look on the Brightside, at least Max made a few friends. Gwen scowled at him and beat him over the head with his guitar.

Later that night, Max sat on the counselor's cabin desk while David filled out paperwork, mainly regarding the ticket and court summons he was given earlier for the accident. Gwen was already asleep and Bob Ross was playing in the background. “Sorry about hitting you with the bus earlier, and crashing it later. But you have to admit it was pretty badass.” Max apologized as David finished writing his signature. “While it was badass, I can't condone that kind of behavior, only because you’re endangering fellow campers. If one of them gets hurt and wants to hold it against you then you know that it’ll come out about me being your father. And we both know you would rather die than let your new friends find out about that. I’m proud that you were able to plan so far ahead too! That skill will come in handy in the future... but also, I’m proud you finally got out and made some friends today, Max.” Max rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Are we going to the cabin tonight for anything? I left my coffee mug there and I’d rather die than be uncaffeinated.” Max hopped off the desk. “Huh? Yeah. it has the better first aid kid, and god knows I can’t leave Gwen to watch the camp if I were to go to the hospital.” David stood and grabbed his trench coat, which had long been stained with blood. Though nobody seemed to question it, David could easily say he’d gone out hunting or he had gotten hurt during camp since that happened so often. “Dope, I also wanted to grab my blanket from there… I’m starting to feel homesick, you know.” David nodded and opened the door, letting Max exit first.

Unbeknownst to David and his son, Nikki and Neil had noticed Max missing from his bed, and went to investigate. The duo had caught the pair as David locked up the counselor cabin with his key before ruffing Max’s hair and heading off into the forest, following a discreet footpath, covered in leaves and pine needles. Nikki and Neil followed at a distance, just close enough so they could hear what they were saying but far enough that they were out of sight. “Can you believe the audacity of that man? Not only knowingly putting all of you campers in danger but also using space kid as a shield? Does he think this is some kind of joke? Those are real bullets dipshit! What would we do if someone got hurt? Also the agents? Like, they should have enough common sense to know not to open fire with civilians everywhere? Like even I know this?” David scoffed and shook his head with distaste. “I get you there. Like, I've seen and fired a gun but I've never been shot at until today!” Max replied, waving his hands around before shoving them back in his pockets. Neil and Nikki looked at each other with surprise. ‘Max has shot a gun before?’ Nikki mouthed to Neil, he shrugged and continued to follow. “God, I wish he’d just kick the bucket already, or like get arrested. I mean, like he’s a convenient cover-up but, Jesus, endangering kids? It's one thing for the camp to be shitty, but to actively put them in the line of fire?” Max nodded in agreement. Neil looked over to Nikki ‘cover-up?’ he lipread. He gave Nikki a worried look.

They stopped walking when they reached some kind of woods murder cabin, Nikki and Neil exchanged concerned looks as David held open the door for Max. when both had entered the cabin the two campers snuck up to one of the windows. It was covered with slightly sheer curtains obscuring the inside to where you could only see their figures. There was a small gap between the curtains they could peer through, but they didn’t want to risk being spotted. Their conversation was muffled, but still loud enough they could hear it. “David where’s my mug I know I left it here!” David returned from the hall with a large first aid kit and a blanket. “Let me get it for you, I must’ve put it away in one of the cabinets. Also, I grabbed your blanket for you.” he handed Max the blanket “What about Mr.Honey Nuts?” Max asked, walking out of the kitchen wrapped like a burrito in his fluffy blanket. “He’s still on your bed, I wasn’t sure you wanted to bring him,” David replied and Max nodded, heading into the hall, presumably toward where his room was. “Max has his own room here?” Nikki whispered to Neil. 

David walked out of the kitchenette with a mug and set it on the coffee table as he sat onto the couch. He opened the first aid kit and stripped off his camp shirt. His torso was bruised an ugly purple, as was his hand Nikki had bitten earlier. Nikki Gasped sharply and Neil gagged at the sight. He began poking at his ribs, Neil assumed because he was checking to see if he had any broken bones. “Holy shit,” Neil whispered. “I totally forgot he got hit by a bus twice earlier..” he trailed off as David started by disinfecting the wound, covering it with gauze and wrapping his hand with bandages. Max returned with a stuffed bear in hand. “Damn, that bus really did a number on you.” David rolled his eyes. “Obviously, its a bus.” Max laughed. “Do you need anything else?” David had finished wrapping his torso in bandages and pulled his shirt back on. “Maybe some cash. It should be in the same spot as usual.” Max nodded and left his stuff on the coffee table, heading back into the hall. David stood and cleaned up the first aid kit, returning it to the hall and waiting by the door. Max returned with a large stack of cash held together by a rubber band and handed it to David. Max grabbed his stuff and wrapped himself in his blanket tightly. The two campers booked it as quickly as they could, returning to their tent out of breath. 

When they heard footsteps approaching their tent they quickly pretended to be asleep. Max peeked in the tent before entering and setting his mug next to the coffee machine Max had put in there forever ago, and flopped onto his cot, curled in his blanket and clutching his bear to his chest. When David returned to the counselor cabin he hid the money under a loose floorboard beneath his bed, where Gwen nor the campers could find it. He stored away the papers he left out almost an hour ago in the bottom drawer then locked it. He brushed his teeth and called it a night.


End file.
